How to Increase Engagement on Social Media in 2024

In February 2024, creator Jené Marie posted a 12-second vertical video of her dog swiping left on potential suitors on a dating app — spoofing the human ritual. The clip exploded across Instagram and TikTok, stacking over 4.3 million views within 48 hours. But here’s the kicker: Jené’s follower base grew by only 3%.

Why? Because viral content doesn’t always mean engaged content. And in the age of algorithm wars and attention fatigue, creators and brands must think beyond visibility—they must win participation.

If your goal is to increase reach, reunite with your audience, and turn passive scrollers into super fans, you’re in the right place. Here’s how to increase engagement on social media — intelligently, sustainably, and platform by platform.

What Is Social Media Engagement — and Why It’s Changing

Engagement goes beyond likes. In 2024, platforms are increasingly rewarding meaningful interactions — comments, DMs, shares, saves, and time spent on content. Think of it this way: saving a post is the new like, and remixing a Reel reflects a higher-level interaction than tapping ‘❤️’.

"The algorithm listens not just to what people click on, but how they respond." — Social strategist Maya Greer

This means metrics like average watch time, saves, sticker taps, and comment threads carry far more weight than surface-level vanity numbers.

Platform-Specific Strategies to Drive Kickass Engagement

Instagram: Play the Long Game with Interactivity

Instagram continues to evolve its algorithm to prioritize relationship-based interactions. Here’s how to fight the fade of declining reach:

• Use polls and quizzes in Stories — accounts that get early taps are more likely to show up again in viewer feeds.
• Reels > static posts — Instagram now pushes Reels more aggressively in Explore and Hashtag pages.
• Respond to every DM and comment — increased reply velocity boosts your visibility with individual followers.

Using Crescitaly.com’s advanced panel tools, many creators filter engagement analytics at a granular level — seeing which call-to-actions lead directly to profile taps or follows. That breakdown allows a smarter design of Story flows and content formats.

TikTok: Ride the Remix Economy

TikTok’s FYP algorithm is interest-first — making engaging content more important than how many followers you have. The best way to increase engagement?

• Use trending audio in unexpected verticals. Beauty creators using sci-fi soundtracks? Works surprisingly well.
• Encourage duets with blank-side templates or green screen challenges.
• Ask open-ended questions in captions — even better if they stir low-stakes debate.

Top creators often prompt reactions intentionally (e.g., “Tell me I’m wrong…”), understanding that comment threads signal quality and spark redistribution to new feeds. TikTok’s algorithm loves chaos — give it a little controlled fire.

YouTube: Think Beyond the Play Button

YouTube Shorts have changed the engagement game on the platform. Alongside long-form content, creators boosting comments and retention have seen massive subscriber spikes. To optimize:

• Use pinned comments to ask questions or drive viewers to your full video.
• Drop cliffhangers — engage people’s curiosity at the 20-second mark with an outcome viewers must wait for.
• Create Shorts directly from long-form videos using YouTube’s Cut tool to funnel traffic back to your core content.

According to data from Crescitaly’s dashboard, YouTube creators who post three Shorts per week and reply to at least 80% of comments experience a 48% faster subscriber growth rate over 60 days compared to passive accounts.

Telegram: Build Community by Conversation

Telegram might not have the glitz of TikTok, but it has retention gold: communities that talk back.

To boost engagement inside your Telegram channels:

• Use discussion threads attached to announcements to gather reactions and feedback.
• Pin interactive content - polls, AMAs, or short contests - to keep the top-level space dynamic.
• Embrace exclusivity — offer behind-the-scenes assets or early-access drops to spark feelings of insider access.

Telegram is a great companion to more public platforms like Instagram. Use posts to funnel your audience into your inner circle for follow-up conversations and brand loyalty-building.

Content Triggers That Spark Engagement (Across All Platforms)

Regardless of platform, certain content ingredients consistently lead to higher engagement:

• Emotion-forward storytelling — joy, nostalgia, rage, curiosity
• Counter-intuitive facts — things that challenge assumptions or norms
• Calls to argue or contribute — anything that invites a response
• Generosity — templates, resources, links, or answers to real audience questions

Want to test what works faster? SMM panels like Crescitaly.com provide tools to A/B test engagement on posts across multiple networks simultaneously — a major win for creators juggling campaigns across platforms.

Conclusion: Engagement as a Strategy, Not a Metric

Engagement isn’t a box to tick — it’s the heartbeat of your brand. It tells platforms and people alike: "This creator matters." Engagement means your message resonates enough to stop the scroll, inspire a thought, or start a conversation.

As we look ahead, social platforms are clearly favoring content with deeper hooks, conversational tones, and real-time response loops. Automation can help, but the best engagement always stems from authenticity, curiosity, and clarity of purpose.

So whether you're a brand marketer planning next quarter's TikTok rollout or a Telegram channel owner looking to warm up your chat, remember this: spark dialogue, not just traffic. That’s how you win in 2024 and beyond.

Meta Title: How to Increase Social Media Engagement

Meta Description: Learn smart, platform-specific strategies to increase engagement on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Telegram in 2024.

Tags: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram, SMM panel, Crescitaly, social engagement